1985 was a memorable year for
Rick James
; that year, he recorded
Glow
(one of his more adventurous albums of the 1980s), produced and wrote
the Mary Jane Girls
'
All Four You
, and did some work with former
Brides of Funkenstein
member
Val Young
(who
Motown
signed on
James
' recommendation).
' influence is strong on
Young
's first solo album,
Seduction
-- he wrote and produced two of the songs (
"Piece of My Heart"
and the intoxicating title track), while the rest of the LP was produced by
Fred Jenkins
and
Stone City Band
keyboardist
Levi Ruffin Jr
. Some of
contribute background vocals, and
's accompaniment includes members of
. But
is certainly her own person -- in fact, she wrote or co-wrote the lyrics for six of the nine songs. Though parts of
are very
-influenced,
"Let's Fall in Love"
"Tellin' Me Lies"
are closer to the type of material that
Kashif
would have produced for
Evelyn "Champagne" King
in the 1980s. And while
is an R&B singer first and foremost, she incorporates pop/rock elements with pleasing results on
"Mind Games"
and the playful, slightly new wave-ish
"Come Hang Out."
This good to excellent album did moderately well, but not as well as it should have -- and regrettably,
never made it to the next level commercially. ~ Alex Henderson